> Loosely related to our discussion of what is appropriate use of material on
> the list, there's a good brief defense of the libertarian perspective in
> today's Chronicle of Higher Education. Titled "The First Amendment Is
> Under Attack in Cyberspace," it appears on the last page of the issue (p.
> A56,), in the "Point of View " section...
>
> If lists are to be fairly free-form forums, the logical extension is that
> post to lists should be freely available for use elsewhere. Which would
> imply that attribution is a courtesy, not a legalistic requirement. Hmmmmm.
I have just read the full text of the article that Tom refers to in his
quoted remarks, and find that it represents a very interesting issue -
one that I think we would all do well to consider, but one that would
take some time to sort out. However, I do not immediately see how taking
a position in favor of "free speech" commits one to a view on the subject
of whether or not an article posted to an electronic mailing list should
be considered "fair game" for use outside the mailing list to which it
has been posted by its author.
I think the issue is a semantic one, and that there may be some confusion
here over two distinct meanings of the word "free." The article that Tom
cites as I read it is talking only about freedom to express ideas and
opinions, particularly on controversial topics where there may be a desire
to state a point of view in an emphatic or forceful manner that some may
find impolite or otherwise offensive. Stating an opinion in support of a
freedom to express opinions unhindered by any form of censorship does not
in any way imply that one feels that readers of articles (whether they
are of this nature or some other) should be free to use those articles in
any way they choose, without regard for the rights of those who have
written the words contained therein. We have recently learned of clear
abuse of material originally posted to our lists by those in the print
journalism profession, and are still contemplating the best means of
responding to that abuse.
In his included remarks, Jay Brummett (jay@slcpl.slcpl.lib.ut.us), who is
presently moderating the NATCHAT and NATIVE-L mailing lists says:
> *****Moderation Note*****
> NativeNet maintains that all articles
> that appear on any NativeNet lists are
> (c) Copyright by their original authors.
> *************************
As listowner of the NativeNet lists, I concur with Jay. It is and shall
remain our policy that the publication of articles on our lists are not
available for use outside the lists themselves without express permission
from their authors.
Again, the issue of "freedom of speech" is an interesting and important
one, but I do not have any immediate response on that subject, since it
is fairly thorny. I would like to see some open debate on the subject in
order to better understand how various people feel and why they feel as
they do. This issue is one that affects all moderated mailing lists and
newsgroups - it is not in any way specific to the NativeNet lists, so I
will do some browsing in various fora, including the "H-net" lists that
are referred to in the _Chronicle_ article before stating a position.
In the five years of existence of the NativeNet lists, it has rarely been
necessary to suppress articles on the grounds that they are in poor taste
or otherwise risk offending some readers. More often, articles are not
relayed because they are mis-addressed due to those sending them not under-
standing the fact that the posting addresses should not be used for admin-
istrative inquiries or for personal correspondence with the authors of
previously-posted articles.
If anyone has any opinions on this subject or information that you feel
would be helpful in formulating a policy (on either issue identified
above), please address them to me ("gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us"). I will
share any such articles with Jay, and we will together issue any state-
ments that we feel might be helpful in clarifying our policy as it evolves.
If you simply want to discuss the article as it applies to the NativeNet
lists in an open forum, please use the address "natchat@gnosys.svle.ma.us"
Thanks.
Gary
--
Gary S. Trujillo gst@gnosys.svle.ma.us
Somerville, Massachusetts {wjh12,bu.edu,spdcc,cdp}!gnosys!gst